E. Bast and Company Breaker Boiler Explosion, Ashland, Pennsylvania — Following the boiler explosion at the E. Bast and Company Breaker, Mark Daniels was buried in the scalding, burning debris. Through the almost superhuman efforts of six men, he was rescued from the terrible position in which he was suffering the most excruciating torture and slowly burning to death. Sadly, he died a few hours later, after suffering such agonies as beggar description.

1881

Almy No. 2 Mine Explosion, Almy, Wyoming — After an undisclosed period following the Almy No. 2 mine explosion, two of the white miners were brought out in a crippled condition, and 15 Chinamen were rescued through the ventilating shaft, all of whom were more or less injured.

1886

Uniondale Mine Explosion, Dunbar, Pennsylvania — After an undisclosed period, a rescue party led by Columbus Shay, of the Mahoning works, and James Henderson, of the Calvin mine managed to get past the flames and smoke to the injured miners. They were lying in every direction buried under masses of debris. Several of them were horribly burned. Their sufferings were terrible. Twelve of them were found almost in a dying condition and two others were dead -- mangled almost into an unrecognizable mass. The names of those killed were John Williams and Joseph Cope.

1897

Kansas and Texas No. 44 Mine Explosion, Huntington, Arkansas — Immediately after the explosion, Mine Superintendent Vail directed the work the work of looking for those unable to walk up the slope. One by one the more seriously injured were brought out and taken to their homes in hacks and wagons. How many of the men are burned internally the doctors could not say, as their efforts were employed solely in dressing their wounds.

1906

Century No. 1 Mine Explosion, Century, West Virginia — Within one hour after the accident Superintendent James Ward had a relief gang in the mine. The first trip out brought ten men, five dead and five badly burned. During the second expedition, twenty injured men were making their way towards the bottom of the shaft and were brought to the surface by the rescuers.

1912

Following an explosion and cave-in, a total of 25 workmen were rescued after an undisclosed period from the San Bois No. 2 coal mine near McCurtain, Oklahoma. Of the last 14 rescued, three had to be removed by stretcher. They were located in a small area where they had placed a curtain to exclude foul air. Tapping sounds through a water pipe led to their discovery. 73 miners perished in the disaster. Source document.

1915

On March 2, 1915, an explosion occurred at the Layland No. 3 Mine in Layland, West Virginia. The explosion occurred at 8:30 a.m., resulting in the deaths of 114 men inside the mine and 1 outside. Fifty-four men afterward escaped alive from the mine. Seven came out from 2 to 5 hours after the explosion; 5 more escaped unassisted at 8 a.m. on March 6 (4 days later), and 42 others were rescued an hour later. Of those killed, 44 died from suffocation. The store porter passing the drift mouth at a distance of 100 feet at the time of the explosion was hurled against a post and killed.

1916

King Mine Explosion, Kimball, West Virginia — Following the explosion, rescuers worked throughout the morning to free a large number of miners. Masses of coal and slate and cut off their escape. At 2 p.m., it was stated that all the men who had entered the mine had been accounted for.

1924

Yukon No. 2 Mine Explosion, Yukon, West Virginia — After an undisclosed period following the explosion, six of the thirty-two men in No. 2 mine escaped death, and were rescued by fellow workmen from the No. 1 mine.

1926

In Eccles, West Virginia, ten miners were imprisoned in the Crab Orchard No. 5 mine for 26 hours following an explosion there. The men credited their rescue to the experience and coolness of P. J. Davis, night foreman and the leader of the little band. He had the men build a wall of lumber, stones and soft mud, which experts said, would have successfully repelled the foul air indefinitely.

1929

Kinloch Mine Explosion, Parnassus, Pennsylvania — Lawrence Allshouse, aged 28, was found alive and carried from the pit. Still alive after lying in an injured condition for twenty-seven hours, Allshouse was removed to a hospital where it was said he probably would die. He was semi-conscious.

1930

New Peerless Mine Explosion, Helper, Utah - Eight men escaped alive after the blast. A. L. Ross and L. S. King were burned about the face and hands and badly gassed. They owe their lives to Vic Bain and Tony Canrinker, who placed the injured men in a mine car and signaled to have it drawn from the mine, but the apparatus was damaged by the explosion and failed to function. Bain and Canrinker then carried Ross and King toward the entrance of the mine until they encountered fresh air. Others rescued were B. W. Hall, Ole Swenson, Roy Story and Frank Hensley.

Wolf Run Mine Fire, Amsterdam, Ohio — Owing their lives to the desperate work of the Steubenville Fire Department and mine rescue squads, 87 miners were brought out of the mine after an undisclosed period. About a dozen of them were unconscious when carried to the surface. Two rescuers, Sidney Wales and Arnold Horton, collapsed from exhaustion after trampling for miles searching for workmen. Two other miners died in the accident.

1933

Bootleg anthracite miner, John Cheslock, was rescued from the abandoned Sayre colliery near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. In a state of collapse, but conscious, Cheslock was rescued following a 4 day entrapment. Source document.

1934

Unnamed Coal Mine Cave-in, Birmingham, Alabama — Oliver Busby, 49, mine foreman, saved Coleman Burrell, 25, trackman's helper, from bleeding and a cave-in in a mine, Birmingham, Alabama, March 28, 1938. When runaway mine cars in a coal-mine collided with standing cars, Burrell was knocked to his knees between the ends of two cars, the car’s coming to a stop after one of them had dislodged two roof supports. The roof began slowly to sag above Burrell. Burrell's leg was caught under a car and was fractured; and an artery was severed, from which blood spurted. Busby crawled under the sagging roof to Burrell. Lying on his side in a confined space on the floor, he pressed the artery, stopping the flow of blood almost entirely. He was thus engaged for 10 minutes, all the time regarding the sagging roof with apprehension. The car was then raised, and Burrell was carried to safety. A very short time later roof timbers came to rest on the car alongside of which Busby had lain; and a large rock slid down on it, followed by a fall of small rock. Burrell's leg later was amputated. Oliver Busby was bestowed the Carnegie Hero award for his bravery. Source document.

1935

Unnamed Coal Mine Cave-in, Starford, Pennsylvania — John S. Korfonta sustained fatal injuries attempting to help rescue Francis R. Yaros from a mine cave-in, Starford, Pennsylvania, March 11, 1935. While Yaros, 21, was close to the face of the coal at the end of a heading of a mine, a rock six feet and a half in diameter and from two to 15 inches thick fell from the roof onto him. The rock lay two feet from the face of the coal between two parallel rows of posts eight feet apart. Only Yaros's feet and ankles extended from under the rock. Frank L. Russell, Jr., heard the crash and went to another heading, where he notified Korfonta, 46, miner; J. Clair Irvin; Joseph C. Resovsky; and another man. Irvin, closely followed by Russell, Resovsky, and the other man, hurried through a crosscut and the heading to the rock and then crawled over it to positions between the rock and the face of the coal. Russell placed a crowbar beneath the edge of the rock, and his companions placed their hands beneath the rock to lift it. Korfonta then reached the rock and began to crawl over it. Another rock, five feet wide and eight inches thick, fell and knocked him aside onto loose slate. Slate dribbled from the roof, and the men feared another fall. After standing aside a moment, Irvin and Resovsky lifted a part of the rock, which had been split by the second rock, from Yaros's legs. Russell and Resovsky then lifted the rock from Yaros's back. Irvin grasped Yaros's ankles and pulled him to the face of the coal. Russell and Irvin then carried Yaros toward the other side of the heading, the roof of which was amply supported by crossbeams, then for 25 feet over a pile of slate to a safe part of the heading. Resovsky remained with Korfonta. Russell ran to the entrance of the mine for help. Irvin returned to the rock and crawled over the loose slate to Korfonta and Resovsky. He and Resovsky then carried Korfonta over the same course to the crosscut and the other heading. In the meantime, Yaros died. Korfonta was placed in a minecar and hauled out of the mine. He died of his injuries that evening. J. Clair Irvin, Frank L. Russell, Jr., Joseph C. Resovsky and John S. Korfonta (posthumously) were bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for their bravery. Source document.

1936

Gus Brown and his three husky sons rescued “Fannie,” their pet pony from the family coal mine in Louis Hollow near Crooksville, Ohio. Fannie, trapped 19 days due to a cave-in, emerged sleepily and appeared none the worse for her experience. The pony, led through hastily-driven shafts was taken into the Brown home and given a warm place by the kitchen stove. Source document.

1940

Willow Grove No. 10 Mine Explosion  An explosion in this mine resulted in the death of 72 miners. Twenty-two others were overcome by afterdamp, rescued and taken to the surface. Seventy-nine uninjured men were temporarily imprisoned and rescued five hours later. Investigators believe that the explosion was caused by the firing of a shot charged with black powder.

1942

Teddy the mule was rescued following an 8-day entrapment after a roof fall occurred in the Cracker Jack mine near Boulder, Colorado. Teddy survived the ordeal by nibbling on bark from pine roof props and drinking from pools of water in the damp mine. The owner, Joe Robertson, turned Teddy out to pasture to rest for a month following his ordeal. Source document.

1943

Unnamed Anthracite Coal Mine Cave-in, Inkerman, Pennsylvania — Henry R. Skibitski, 32, coal miner; and John Kuchinsky, 37, coal mine, helped to rescue Frank Chas, 44, mine laborer, from a cave-in in a mine, Inkerman, Pennslvania, March 30, 1943. Two runaway mine cars were derailed in an air-course of a coal mine, causing the roof to collapse for 17 feet in the air-course and in a cross-cut that extended six feet off the air-course at one end of the cave-in. Chas, who was in the cross-cut, was pinned by a timber on which rock rested. While the debris moved and settled somewhat and a few rocks fell, Skibitski, followed by John Kuchinsky, from the end of the cave-in crawled 12 feet in a narrow passageway at one side of the cave-in under debris and reached Chas. They placed blocks under the timber; and with bars Kuchinsky and then Skibitski dug at rocks under Chas, freeing him. They dragged Chas into the air-course, lifted him across one of the cars, and lowered him to the floor beyond the inner end of the cave-in. Chas had sustained a cut on his head, and his legs were numb. Twenty minutes later, the debris having fairly well settled, Kuchinsky aided Chas over the car; and all crawled through the passageway into a safe section of the mine. Chas recovered. Skibitski and Kuchinsky were bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for their bravery. Source document.

1947

Centralia No. 5 Mine Explosion, Centralia, Illinois — Rescue workers kept digging in a gaseous, clogged-up passage 540 feet underground. The picking and the toiling slow work in the thick of the lingering fumes, in about 20 hours had accounted for only nine survivors of the 131 who were caught in the blast just a few minutes before quitting time.

1957

Abandoned Coal Mine, Harlan, Kentucky — 50-year-old, Cantrell Owens, was rescued from an abandoned Kentucky coal mine near Harlan after spending more than 2 days lost in mine. Rescuers had to give up the search once because of the foul air they encountered.

1969

William "Buck" Jones was rescued 8 days following a cave-in at the Deep Lark lead, zinc and silver mine near Lark, Utah. The elderly miner was tired but able to laugh following his ordeal. He was greeted on the surface by his wife and 11 children. Source document.

1977

Ronald Adley survived after being trapped for nearly 6 days following an inundation of water at the Porter Tunnel Mine owned by the Kocher Coal Company in Tower City, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Nine miners were killed in the accident.

1979

Trapped for 6˝ hours by a rockslide at the Upper Taggert Coal Mine at Oven Fork, Kentucky, Larkin Napier was rescued. Two other miners, Grant Sturgill and Ernest Stetzer, were crushed by the falling rock. Source document.

Rescuer Deaths in March

1905

Rush Run and Red Ash Mine Explosions, Red Ash, West Virginia  Five hours after the mine ceased operations for the day, an explosion occurred in the Rush Run mine, in which 8 men lost their lives. The explosion extended into the Red Ash mine, where 5 more men lost their lives. To rescue these men, 11 men entered the Rush Run mine and were lost in a second explosion. Source document.

1907

Seattle Electric Company, Renton County, Washington  Victim’s little son was waiting for his father to finish work so that he might ride the horse to the barn. As the father was dumping his last car, the boy fell into the hot ashes. The father jumped to rescue him and both were so badly burned that they died a few days later.

1908

Hanna No. 1 Mine Explosions, Hanna, Wyoming  Mine Superintendent, Alexander Briggs, along with 19 volunteers were killed by an explosion in the Union Pacific Coal Company’s Hanna No. 1 mine. This group had gone into the mine to fight a fire that had been raging there since the previous Saturday. A short time later, a second explosion occurred in the mine, killing 39 others, including State Mine Inspector, D. M. Elie, who had gone into the mine with hopes of rescuing the first group. In all, 59 were killed in this disaster.

1915

At Black Hawk, Utah, Grant S. Miller, a member of the Black Hawk Coal Company's rescue crew, was overcome while fighting a mine fire, and died in spite of courageous efforts of his comrades to save his life. Source document.

1924

Castle Gate No. 2 Mine Explosions, Castle Gate, Utah  Before experienced apparatus men arrived, a member of a crew from a neighboring mine was killed by inhaling carbon monoxide due to removing his nose clip in some way.

1935

Unnamed Coal Mine Cave-in, Starford, Pennsylvania — John S. Korfonta sustained fatal injuries attempting to help rescue Francis R. Yaros from a mine cave-in, Starford, Pennsylvania, March 11, 1935. While Yaros, 21, was close to the face of the coal at the end of a heading of a mine, a rock six feet and a half in diameter and from two to 15 inches thick fell from the roof onto him. The rock lay two feet from the face of the coal between two parallel rows of posts eight feet apart. Only Yaros's feet and ankles extended from under the rock. Frank L. Russell, Jr., heard the crash and went to another heading, where he notified Korfonta, 46, miner; J. Clair Irvin; Joseph C. Resovsky; and another man. Irvin, closely followed by Russell, Resovsky, and the other man, hurried through a crosscut and the heading to the rock and then crawled over it to positions between the rock and the face of the coal. Russell placed a crowbar beneath the edge of the rock, and his companions placed their hands beneath the rock to lift it. Korfonta then reached the rock and began to crawl over it. Another rock, five feet wide and eight inches thick, fell and knocked him aside onto loose slate. Slate dribbled from the roof, and the men feared another fall. After standing aside a moment, Irvin and Resovsky lifted a part of the rock, which had been split by the second rock, from Yaros's legs. Russell and Resovsky then lifted the rock from Yaros's back. Irvin grasped Yaros's ankles and pulled him to the face of the coal. Russell and Irvin then carried Yaros toward the other side of the heading, the roof of which was amply supported by crossbeams, then for 25 feet over a pile of slate to a safe part of the heading. Resovsky remained with Korfonta. Russell ran to the entrance of the mine for help. Irvin returned to the rock and crawled over the loose slate to Korfonta and Resovsky. He and Resovsky then carried Korfonta over the same course to the crosscut and the other heading. In the meantime, Yaros died. Korfonta was placed in a minecar and hauled out of the mine. He died of his injuries that evening. J. Clair Irvin, Frank L. Russell, Jr., Joseph C. Resovsky and John S. Korfonta (posthumously) were bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for their bravery. Source document.

1937

Kramer Mine Explosions, DuBois, Pennsylvania  A spark from a locomotive ignited a body of methane in the first explosion, a fire ignited the 2nd. Two were killed in the first explosion and 7 were killed in the second explosion. The others died in an effort to rescue their fellow man, when a second explosion of gas took place. Source document.

1940

Willow Grove No. 10 Mine Explosion, Neffs, Ohio  On this Saturday morning 176 men were in the mine, when an explosion killed 66 by burns and violence and 3 by burns and afterdamp. Two others attempting rescue were asphyxiated, and 1 rescued man died 6 days later from the effects of afterdamp.

1944

Katherine No. 4 Mine Explosion, Shinnston, West Virginia  Firefighting crews were formed after all miners were withdrawn from the Katherine No. 4 mine to fight a fire discovered there at 11:00 p.m. A subsequent explosion of methane and coal dust occurred, killing everyone in the mine fighting the fire at the time. Windows were shattered in homes 2 miles away and buildings were rocked.

1946

Unnamed Coal Mine Cave-in, Girardville, Pennsylvania — Edward Eugene Carey, 42, coal inspector, died attempting to rescue John Haluska, 33, truck driver, from a cave-in at a culm bank, Girardville, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1946. When rocks, coal, and clay for eight feet from the top of a culm bank 60 feet high began to roll and slide down, Haluska was caught and buried upright to his waist. Carey and three other men ran to Haluska and with their hands removed the culm from around him, freeing him except for one foot. As Carey sat on his haunches continuing his efforts, he shouted a warning to the other men that a second slide had started, and they ran clear of the slide area. Carey worked to free Haluska for a second or two longer and then started to follow the others. After taking a step or two, the slide reached him; and he fell. Carey and Haluska were buried under culm five feet deep. Both were dead when removed three hours later. Posthumously, Mr. Carey was bestowed the Carnegie Hero Award for his bravery. Source document.

1953

O'Brien Mine Explosion, Lovilia, Iowa — Three of the victims of the O'Brien mine disaster were men in an inspection party which entered the mine several hours after the original explosion. They were Gerald Lane, 59; James Love, 54, and Thomas Little, 48. They were in a party of five which entered the mine to look it over. Love earlier had been a member of the squad which brought out the bodies of Harold Barnes and Ben Nichols.

1971

Nemacolin Mine Fire, Nemacolin, Pennsylvania  On April 16, 1971, at about 1:30 p.m., William L. Groves, State Deep Mine Inspector, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, was accidentally drowned during the firefighting operations.

1976

Scotia Mine Explosions, Ovenfork, Kentucky  On March 11, 1976, at the time of the second explosion, 13 men were underground near the entrance of 2 Southeast Main; 11 died as the result of the explosion and 2 repairmen working a short distance outby escaped without injury. Among the 11 killed on March 11 were 3 Federal Mine Inspectors: Kenneth Kiser, age 45; Richard Sammons, age 55; and Grover Tussey, age 45. This disaster gave birth to the Health and Safety Act of 1977, including new rules for mine rescue teams, stations, and training.

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Master File
Listed by the month when they occurred, this file contains hundreds of successful rescues and incidents of rescuer death in the United States.

Successful Mine Rescues
Listed in descending chronological order, this file contains hundreds of successful rescues in the United States.

Incidents of Rescuer Death
Listed in descending chronological order, this file contains more than 100 incidents of rescuer death in the United States.